"I'm up, I'm up!" Sly shouted, still groggy. Who am I talking to, he thought. He quickly picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Sly?" the voice asked.
"Yeah. Emily?" Sly asked back.
"I need to see you."
Sly rubbed his temples as he held the phone between his ear and his shoulder. "So you got my message," he said with a smile. "When do you want to see me?"
"Now," she said in a steely tone of voice.
Something about the way she was speaking on the phone told Sly to take her request seriously. "I'll be right over." Emily hung up the phone without another word. Sly sighed as he grabbed his keys. He'd get some sleep eventually.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Carly nervously paced about the small exam room, waiting for Lucky's psychiatrist to arrive. She looked at her cousin, who seemed to have calmed down for the time being. He didn't look any less troubled, though.
"When is that doctor going to get here already?" she impatiently asked aloud.
"He'll be here soon enough."
Carly looked at Lucky. There seemed to be a new clarity in his eyes. "Hey, how are you?" she asked gently.
"Horrible." Lucky nervously moved on the exam table.
"You had everyone pretty scared back there."
"I know. I was scared myself, and I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I have a pretty good idea."
"Well, you started yelling…" Carly began to explain, but Lucky cut her off.
"I know. It's just I don't know what triggered that. All of a sudden, I was having a horrible flashback."
"Flashback? To the time you were missing?" Carly questioned, trying to understand.
"No. To something much worse," Lucky said, on the verge of tears. "I guess I blocked it out before, but now I know."
"Know what?"
Lucky took a shaky breath, and then prepared to confess his darkest secret. "I did it. I raped Elizabeth."
*-*-*-*-*-*
Sly carefully climbed the small roof outside Emily's window. He figured that no one would appreciate it if he came through the front door. Instead, he took a shortcut through the woods that surrounded the property. For all of the Quartermaines' money, they were pretty lax about security around the grounds. When he successfully scaled the roof, he tapped lightly on the window.
Emily heard the tapping on the window. Thank goodness Sly had enough common sense not to come in the front entrance. She splashed a little water on her face in an attempt to hide the fact that she had been crying. She moved out into her room and found Sly on her roof. She opened the window to let him in.
Sly smiled as he climbed through the window. His expression immediately changed when he saw the troubled look on Emily's face. "Emily, did something happen?"
Emily remained silent for a moment. She walked over and sat on her bed. Sly followed. Emily couldn't help but think about the last time they were together on that bed. That's how this happened, she thought. Stop. Be strong, she scolded herself. She turned to face Sly. She took a shaky breath. "I need some answers from you," she said.
"Sure, ask me anything," Sly said. He was concerned. He had never seen Emily like this before.
"What caused your change of heart today?"
Sly sighed. "It's like I said on the message. I've had a lot of time to think. I drove trying to forget about you, about us. But I couldn't escape it. You were on my mind all night. I thought long and hard about what you mean to me. I thought about the whole mess we're in with Juan. Finally, I just had to decide if the benefits outweighed the risks." Sly turned to face her. "They are."
"Well, it's nice to know that you think of our relationship as a stock portfolio," Emily said bitterly.
"No, Emily, it's not like that at all," Sly said genuinely. "I know I was hard on you. I was probably asking too much, but my foolish pride got in the way. I realize that now. But I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get back what we had. Even if it means waiting to let everyone know the truth."
"Whatever it takes, huh? Tell me, Sly, what if you wake up tomorrow and have another mood swing and decide I'm not worth the trouble? What happens to me then?"
"I would never leave you, Emily. Not ever again."
Emily winced at his words. "Let's see if you're right, Sly." She got off the bed and walked away from him.
Sly stood up as well. He was confused. What was she getting at?
"Let's see if you keep your promises," she said in a teary voice. She took a deep breath, and then decided to just blurt it out.
"I'm pregnant."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Carly stared at Lucky for a moment. "What are you talking about, Lucky?"
Lucky held his head in his hands, then looked up at Carly, tears flowing freely down his cheeks. "I raped her. Oh, God, I must have."
Carly tried to make sense out of his words. She didn't know Lucky that well, but she didn't think he was capable of that. "Lucky, are you sure? Because it didn't look like she was too afraid of you to me."
"She must have blocked it out, just like I did! Oh, God, how could I do it? How?" Lucky was crying even harder.
Carly was at a loss about what to do. She had no idea if Lucky was telling the truth, or maybe just hallucinating.
Suddenly, a dark calmness settled over Lucky. He got off the table and attempted to leave.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Carly demanded, stepping between the door and Lucky.
"I'm leaving to finish what I started. I don't deserve to live," Lucky said.
Carly stood firmly in the doorway. "You're not going anywhere."
Lucky had a desperate look in his eyes. "Carly, please, get out of the way." He started to push past her, so Carly grabbed onto his shirt.
"No, Lucky, I can't let you." She pulled at him harder, trying to get him back to the exam table.
"Carly, let me go!" Lucky shouted as the door opened.
Kevin and a nurse came running into the room. "What is going on here?" he asked.
"He's trying to leave," Carly said through gritted teeth. "I won't let him."
Kevin moved to Lucky and took a hold of him as well. Lucky winced at the touch. "Let go of me!" he said again.
Kevin looked at Lucky. "Lucky, tell me what's wrong."
"I have to get out of here," Lucky said.
"He was going to go try to kill himself," Carly said.
Kevin was immediately concerned. "Lucky, why would you want to try that again?"
Again? Carly thought.
"I hurt her!" he shouted. "And I can't live with that! I'll never be able to. Everyone would be better off if I were dead!"
Kevin nodded to the nurse, who handed him a syringe. He inserted it into Lucky's arm.
Lucky immediately began to slow down.
"Hey, what are you doing to him?" Carly demanded, frightened for her cousin.
"I just gave Lucky a sedative to calm him down. It won't hurt him, I promise. Let's get him over to the table," he said to Carly.
Carly and Kevin walked Lucky back to the table, and Kevin and the nurse got him to lie down.
"I didn't want to hurt her. I didn't want to," Lucky murmured before drifting off to sleep.
Kevin sighed. He wondered what had happened to make Lucky so agitated. He needed answers fast. He turned to look at Carly, who was softly brushing the hair off Lucky's forehead.
"Carly, do you know what brought this on?" Kevin asked.
Carly looked at the doctor. "I- I don't know. I was at Kelly's, and he and Elizabeth Webber were having a conversation. All of a sudden, he just gets up and starts screaming. He kept saying, 'I don't want to hurt her.' I got him to calm down somewhat, and we came here." Carly brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. "Then he told me that he thinks he raped Elizabeth."
Kevin's eyes widened in shock. "What made him say that?"
Carly sighed. "I don't know. He says he blocked it out until today. He remembered it now, and I can tell it's killing him."
Kevin's mind was working at a mile a minute. He knew Lucky had beaten his cousin without any memory of it, so it was possible that this could have happened, but why would Liz want to stay around him if he did? It didn't make sense.
Lucky was now in a deep sleep. "This is all very troubling," Kevin admitted. "I'll have Lucky admitted to the psychiatric ward immediately."
"Do you have to?" Carly said, remembering her own time in Ferncliff.
"It's for his own good. He's suicidal, and I can't risk him trying to do it again. I can treat him more intensively if he's here."
Carly nodded, but said nothing.
The nurse walked back in. "His family is here."
Kevin started to walk to the door. Carly remained behind, looking at Lucky. "Carly, why don't you come with me? You might have to repeat this story."
"I don't want to leave him alone," she said softly.
"The nurse will stay with him. He won't be waking up for a while."
"All right," Carly sighed, and followed Dr. Collins out the door.
She found her mother, Laura, and Elizabeth waiting outside.
"How is Lucky?" Laura asked frantically.
"Not well, I'm afraid." Kevin began to tell them the story of what was going on.
Bobbie looked at her daughter, who was staring back at the room. She took her hand. Carly looked at Bobbie, who was smiling supportively. Bobbie gave her hand a gentle squeeze as she listened to Kevin.
"Can I see him?" Laura asked after Kevin finished.
"He's asleep right now, but it would be ok for a few moments."
Laura walked into the exam room. Kevin turned to Elizabeth. "Could I have a few words with you, Elizabeth?" She nodded, and the two moved away to talk for a moment.
Bobbie turned to her daughter. "When I saw you getting into that ambulance, I thought something had happened to Michael."
Carly sighed. "No, he's at the penthouse with Leticia."
"When I heard you were going with Lucky, frankly, I was surprised."
"You were surprised? I didn't know what was happening. But Lucky asked me to go with him, so how could I say no?" Carly whispered as she began to tear up.
Bobbie hugged her daughter. "I'm glad you were there for him."
"I hope he'll be alright," Carly said.
"He's a Spencer. He's a fighter. He'll get through this," Bobbie said.
Carly's eyes fell back on the room. "I hope you're right, mother."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Sly staggered backward as Emily's words rang in his ears. "You're, you're pregnant?" he whispered.
"Yes," Emily said, looking away from him.
"Oh my God." Sly's mind was racing a mile a minute. "You're sure?"
"Positive," Emily said angrily. "I took a test. I haven't been feeling good lately, and well, I'm late."
Sly looked at Emily and sighed. "I hate to ask you this, but are you sure it's mine?"
Emily turned around sharply. "Oh, so now you think I'm a slut?"
"No, that's not what I'm saying," Sly protested.
"Of course it's yours. I haven't slept with anyone else."
"I didn't mean for it to sound that way," Sly said. The room was spinning, so he sat down on her window seat. He tried to take slow deep breaths to combat the nausea he was feeling at that particular moment. He looked at Emily, who was sitting on her bed, angry tears falling down her cheeks. "So," Sly said in a shaky voice, "what do you want to do?"
"How am I supposed to know? I don't know what's right. This is wrong, all wrong." She buried her face in her hands and cried.
Sly walked over to Emily slowly. "We have to decide something."
Emily looked up at Sly. "YOU did this to me! You have no right to decide anything."
Now it was Sly's turn to get angry. "Wait just a minute. I didn't do anything to you. We both decided to sleep together." He held a hand to his head. "How did this happen anyway? We used protection."
"It's not always one hundred percent successful." Emily turned away from Sly. "I- I don't want to kill it."
"You don't?"
"No. Just because we screwed up, it doesn't mean that it should have to suffer for it."
"Good. That's good," Sly said. "I wouldn't want that either."
Emily wiped her tears with the back of her hand. I'm too young for this, she thought. I'm not ready to be a mother.
"So what happens next?" Sly asked after a few moments of silence.
"I don't know. I just don't know."
Sly felt as if the room was closing in on him. This can't be happening, he thought. Not to me. "I've got to get out of here," he announced suddenly.
"You're not leaving me, are you?" Emily asked, panicked.
"No, no. I just- I've got to think about this." Sly looked at Emily through watery eyes. "I'll talk to you soon." He slipped out her window.
Emily threw a pillow after he left. "You are not abandoning me, Sly Eckert. You're not!" Emily collapsed on her bed, and she eventually cried herself to sleep.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Sly ran as fast as he could through the streets of Port Charles. It didn't matter that there was still rush hour traffic; that there were still plenty of people who could see him. He just kept on running. If he ran fast enough, then maybe he didn't have to think. He felt nothing but movement.
Finally, Sly's body could take no more. He collapsed on the soft sand. Sly looked up at his surroundings. How ironic. His mind automatically took his body right back to his childhood home. He was on the shore near the lighthouse.
Sly inhaled and exhaled rapidly, trying to catch his breath. The sound of his heart beating pounded in his head. No, he thought. This was not supposed to happen to me.
Sly sat up and stared at the water. I am not supposed to be a father, he thought. Not now, and not ever.
"Oh, God." Sly looked up to the sky. "What am I going to do now?"
A strong, sudden wind blew his hair back, and the sky opened up and started to pour. "Is this a sign?" Sly asked. He sat on the beach for a little while longer, until he was soaked to the bone. Sly was almost glad it had started to rain; that way, no one could tell that he had been crying.
He slowly stood on the beach, and looked up to his old home. Maybe it was time to take his father's advice. He could still hear his words as if it were yesterday. Be a man, Sly. Be a man.